STA, 22 May 2020 - The energy group Petrol saw its sales revenue drop by 15% year on year to EUR 916 million in the first quarter, due to lower prices and a drop in the sale of petroleum products. Still, net profit of the group was up 20% to EUR 21.8 million, shows a report published on the website of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

Gross profit stood at EUR 105.3 million, which is on a par with the first three months of 2019.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 26% to EUR 46.5 million, mostly due to the balancing out of petroleum product price quotes, as diesel price quotes for the coming months at the beginning of the year were twice as high as at the end of March.

Excluding this effect, EBITDA for the period would be up just 2% to EUR 37.9 million, shows the report that was discussed by the supervisory board on Thursday.

"In March, the business environment deteriorated considerably as the pandemic began. Petrol Group companies ... have implemented the necessary measures to contain the spread of the virus and ensure uninterrupted energy-product supply," the group says, noting that no disruption in the energy-product supply had occurred though, and all points of sale had been operational.

The group generated 47% of its EBITDA through sales of petroleum products, 21% through sales of merchandise and related services, 18% through energy and environmental solutions, 12% through the sale of other energy products (natural gas, electricity, LPG), and 2% through renewable electricity production.

In the first three months of 2020, sales of petroleum products were down by 18% to 742,900 tonnes, mostly due to lower sales to the Agency for Commodity Reserves.

Some 43% of sales were generated on the Slovenian market, 24% in SE Europe, and 33% in EU markets.

At the end of March, the Petrol group's retail network consisted of 509 service stations, of which 318 were in Slovenia, 109 in Croatia, 42 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 15 in Serbia, 15 in Montenegro and ten in Kosovo.

Sales revenue of merchandise and related services were down by 35% to EUR 127 million in the January-March period, and the sales of natural gas was up 15% to 6.4 TWh.

Because of the epidemic, the group's targets for 2020 will not be met and Petrol has prepared different scenarios for its operations until the end of the year, depending on the severity of the crisis.

If certain restrictions on transit traffic and tourism still remain in place in the next few months, it expects this to have a major impact on its operations in the summer months. The group is also preparing for the possibility of major restrictions on movement to be introduced again in the final quarter.

The group thus expects the sale of petroleum products to reach 83-86% of the 2019 figure. EBITDA for 2020 could amount to 73-79% of the 2019 figure.

Before the pandemic, Petrol's plans for this year included sales revenue of EUR 6.4 billion, EBITDA of EUR 214.8 million and EUR 109.8 million in net profit. It also planned to sell 3.4 million tonnes of petroleum products.

Investments will be limited to the most essential this year and the management will make decisions on this based on the pandemic-related developments.

The group will focus on cost optimisation and streamlining of operations until the end of the year, while securing uninterrupted energy-product supply.

The supervisory board assessed that the management had responded to the pandemic appropriately and has the situation under control.

An AGM has been scheduled for 23 July.

STA, 13 March 2020 - The energy group Petrol last year generated sales revenues of EUR 4.4 billion, which is 1% more than in 2018, while net profit was up by 15% to EUR 105.2 million, the parent company said in a press release on Friday as it presented the annual report.

The group last year posted EUR 472.9 million in adjusted gross profit, up 7% year-on-year, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 9% to EUR 196.5 million.

The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio at the end of 2019 was 1.8, up from 1.7 at the end of 2018.

It sold 3.7 million tonnes of petroleum products in 2019, 6% more than in 2018, at a total of 509 of its service stations.

The group operated 318 stations in Slovenia, 110 in Croatia, 42 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 14 in Serbia, 14 in Montenegro and 11 in Kosovo at the end of last year.

The group also sold 21.5 TWh of natural gas, 176,400 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, 22.6 TWh of electricity and 145.8 thousand MWh of heating energy. No comparisons with 2018 were provided.

Revenues from sales of merchandise and related services meanwhile amounted to EUR 466.5 million in 2019, on a par with 2018.

The report notes that 13% of EBITDA last year was generated with energy and environmental solutions, with the "production of electricity from renewable sources gaining in importance".

The plan for this year is to EUR 6.4 billion in sales revenue, EUR 510 million in adjusted gross profit, EUR 214.8 million in EBITDA, EUR 109.8 million in net profit, and the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio at 1.7.

Sales of petroleum products in 2020 are expected to amount to EUR 3.4 million tonnes and sales of merchandise and related services at EUR 467.6 million.

The current strategy is valid for until 2022, but the new management, appointed earlier this year, has announced that a new strategy until 2025 will be drafted by the summer.

As for the coronavirus outbreak, Petrol said that "there have been no disruptions to our operations so far", adding that "action plans are in place to ensure energy product supply should the situation deteriorate."

The annual report was discussed by the supervisory board on Thursday. "In 2019 the Petrol group performed very well, exceeding the set targets," the board said in today's press release.

STA, 18 February 2020 - The Democrats (SDS) called on Tuesday for an emergency session of the parliamentary Public Finance Oversight Commission to examine a cooperation memorandum signed last September by the state-controlled energy company Petrol with a Russian company subject to US sanctions.

The memorandum with T Plus was signed as part of a visit to Moscow by outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and envisages cooperation with the T Plus Group and Schneider Electric Russia in the field of energy efficiency.

Petrol's chairman at the time Tomaž Berločnik said the two projects planned involved work on the optimisation of district heating. He valued them at "a few million euro" and potentially at a few dozen million in the future.

However, citing documents published by the US Department of the Treasury, the SDS is pointing out that T Plus is part of the Russian Renova Group, which is subject to US sanctions along with its billionaire owner Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg.

The sanctions were introduced in April 2018 over interference in the 2016 US presidential election, with the US also freezing Vekselberg's assets.

The SDS is puzzled by how the government, Foreign Ministry and the SOVA intelligence agency could allow the memorandum to be signed, and what is even worse, to be signed during Šarec's official visit to Moscow.

The party claims all of the listed institutions as well as the PM and the management and supervisory bodies of Petrol and state asset manager SSH had obviously failed to fulfil their duties.

The SDS says that Petrol now runs the danger of becoming subject to retaliation measures on the part of the US, which could undermine government revenue and the value of state assets, while the SSH and government could also be compromised.

"The signing of the memorandum under to auspices of the Slovenian government could also bring negative consequences for other areas of transatlantic cooperation," the party wrote.

The SDS is thus proposing that the Public Finance Oversight Commission ask the government to have the SSH draw up a report on the matter, to have Petrol withdraw from the memorandum and to have authorities examine whether official duties were neglected, money laundered or terrorism financed as part of the memorandum signing.

STA, 18 February 2020 - The business newspaper Finance has reported that the energy company Petrol will acquire E3, the subsidiary of the power distributor Elektro Primorska which is one of the largest electricity sellers in the country. The acquisition would bring Petrol's share on the electricity retail market up to 20%.

According to Tuesday's report in Finance, the sale has been approved by the supervisors of Elektro Primorska, and the contract is expected to be signed by the end of February.

Petrol responded with a posting on the website of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange saying it had been chosen as the most favourable bidder to buy E3 and was continuing talks on the company's acquisition.

Finance reported in its online edition that Petrol would pay roughly EUR 15 million for E3. The value of the deal is not known officially.

Elektro Primorska distributes electricity in south-western, western and north-western Slovenia, covering around 22% of the country's territory.

It had decided to sell the electricity retailer E3 because Elektro Primorska provides a public utility service and must not finance commercial activities, Finance explained.

The buyer of the subsidiary will have to meet certain conditions, including preserving the brand, the current number of employees and the seat in Nova Gorica, and further developing the company.

By selling E3, Elektro Primorska will get out of the electricity retail business, and meet one of the formal criteria for obtaining concession for a system operator for the distribution network in the region of Primorska.

In the past, the plan was to merge the energy distributor ECE and E3 under the wing of the state-owned power utility HSE, but it failed as the market regulator said this would violate market concentration rules.

Elektro Primorska continued with the procedure to offload E3, with Gen-I, Petrol and HSE submitting bids, and the fuel retailer being selected as the most favourable bidder.

E3 has a 11% market share in Slovenia, and an even higher, 15% share, in the sale of electricity to households. This makes it the fourth largest electricity retailer in the country.

According to Finance, the acquisition brings Petrol's share on the electricity retail market up to 20%, while its market share in the supply of households will reach almost 25%.

STA, 5 December 2019 - Pharmaceutical company Lek has been declared the top Slovenian employer in 2019, the first time in nine years that it has beaten rival drug maker Krka. The title is awarded by the jobs portal Mojedelo.

The award is the result of a poll involving 19,000 users of the jobs portal that measured various aspects of the reputation of companies as employers or potential employers, Styria Digital Marketplaces, which owns Mojedelo, said on Thursday.

Lek and Krka were followed in the rankings by energy companies Petrol and Gen-I, and telco Telekom Slovenije.

Lek, which is owned by the pharma giant Novartis, said the award recognised "that we have created an environment for our colleagues in which everyone can find their inspiration".

All our stories about employment in Slovenia are here

STA, 8 November 2019 - The supervisory board of energy trader Petrol, which has been subject to mounting criticism in recent weeks for failing to explain October's unexpected management board overhaul, said on Friday the former management had never put forward credible documentation to support plans that substantially departed from the company's strategy.

The explanation comes after the supervisors cited "significant differences of views with respect to the implementation of the 2018-2022 strategic business plan" on 25 October and later argued the former management did not consent to the disclosure of detailed circumstances.

Friday's press release says the Tomaž Berločnik-led management had been urged on several occasions to draw up credible documents that would allow the supervisors to take an informed decision.

This was done because "the material contained errors in the magnitude of several hundred millions when it comes to calculated cash flow and the amount of new debt needed to finance the investments".

"The supervisory board assessed the material to be misleading, which is why it was unable to adopt any decisions on its basis."

The supervisors wrote that the management's plans departed from the strategy until 2022 in that they involved "multifold" increases regarding the size of the investment and the sources needed to finance it.

The supervisors added the documentation had been supplemented several times as a result of the doubts expressed, "but the remarks and demands of the supervisory board for additional explanations and corrections were not observed".

They are confident the documentation was misleading in that it presented a substantially incorrect amount and type of credit, including costlier subordinated debt.

"The importance of the dynamics and size of the planned investment and the associated risks are also highlighted by Standard & Poor's Rating Services in its credit rating justification, where it notes the key risk of major investment (in the amount of EUR 521 million in line with the adopted strategy) in the coming years, mostly outside of the company's core activities," the supervisory board wrote.

The former Petrol management board retorted by accusing the supervisory board of withholding information.

"We have consented to the disclosure of agreements on early termination to secure equal access to information to the shareholders. Clearly the supervisory board is withholding the content of these agreements so that it can offer its positions to the public," the former managers said in a message circulated by the Zdolšek Law Firm.

"The shareholders' meeting is the body which decides on disagreements between management and the supervisory board when they occur. We hope to be given the opportunity to explain our positions."

Explanations regarding the 25 October management overhaul were recently also requested from the supervisors by the government through the SSH state asset custodian.

SSH announced a shareholders' meeting by the end of this week after assessing the scarce additional explanations provided on 30 October as insufficient. The supervisors in turn said they would discuss the call for a shareholders' meeting at their session next Thursday.

Media reported last week that a legal opinion drawn up for the supervisors had revealed the management had changed the sum total of the planned investment several times. The fresh debt needed to finance it was put at around a billion euros, twice the sum envisaged in the 2022 strategy.

The supervisors subsequently explained they had not approved this and that the strategic plan remained unchanged.

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 8 November

Mladina: Govt, Left must find common ground or face demise

STA, 8 November 2019 - The left-leaning weekly Mladina warns in its latest commentary that if the minority coalition and the opposition Left fail to come to a new agreement in the coming weeks, the government will not even survive until the spring, with Janez Janša of the Democrats lurking from behind and waiting for a snap election.

If the heads of the coalition parties and the Left do not start to actually talk to each other, instead of flexing muscles and promoting their own importance and self-confidence, the "government will fall, loudly," editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says in Risky Game.

Opposition leader Janez Janša, who has a (malicious) historical memory, is probably watching the elbowing within the coalition with a smile on his face, and he will definitely "help" bring the chaos in a few months to the point when snap election will be an option.

And if election is to be held soon, no party of the current coalition would gain from it, and would instead be severely punished by voters. The same is true for the Left, as voters will not care about details, having voted for a coalition and stability for the next four years.

According to Repovž, the absence of memory in the coalition party and the Left is astounding: they do not remember that the promise of normality was what attracted voters who did not want a coalition of hatred, but a normal government.

"And after one year they are not capable of talking to each other, everybody praises only themselves, and pointing finger at others? The only person who has managed to control himself ... is [DeSUS president Karl] Erjavec. Everybody else are throwing spanners in the works."

In the eyes of voters, including their own, the Left could become the party which has brought the government down and undermined stability, and made it possible for Janša to take over the government in a few months, with or without an election.

"They can ease the tensions and make a new agreement. But they can also destroy what looked like an achievement after the 2018 election in the increasingly nationalist Europe. They are putting a lot at stake. Of course, everybody has the right to miss their own historic opportunity," concludes the commentary.

Reporter: Petrol management resignation political move

STA, 4 November 2019 - Energy company "Petrol has always smelled not only of oil and petrol but also of politics," the weekly Reporter says in its commentary on Monday, more than a week after the company management resigned at a marathon supervisory board session.

The state owns a controlling 30% stake in Petrol and there is no point in pretending that the tentacles of politics do not reach the company, the magazine says under the headline Smell of Oil and Gunpowder.

The company's most recent CEO Tomaž Berločnik was appointed to the position because this was decided by the ruling politicians, in February 2011 this was the government of Borut Pahor, the then president of the Social Democrats (SD).

Berločnik was considered a key link in the network of Borut Jamnik, the wonder boy of the SD, who has been making staffing decisions in state-owned companies for a decade.

"Jamnik's clan has become a state within the state, a network that has grown over-ruling politicians' heads. The only thing above them was the blue sky.

Berločnik is likely not the angel the media is making him out to be. Apparently, there is a binder full of documents relating to allegedly harmful moves and plans, say sources close to the supervisory board.

The question remains the reason for the management's resignation. Innocent people do not just leave their jobs in a haste, allegedly also without severance.

There are many rumours: from Berločnik's links to Croatian tycoon Emil Tedeschi to contentious businesses in Russia. Maybe more details will surface in the future throwing more shadows on Berločnik's management and Jamnik will be even paler in his TV interviews.

After Telekom, this is the second blow to Jamnik's clan in the war among party networks in state companies. A political dimension cannot be denied in Petrol resignations, although all politicians have been denying involvement.

All our posts in this series are here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 1 November

Mladina: Problems with staffing in state firms

STA, 30 October 2019 - Mladina draws parallels in its latest commentary between the staffing policy in state-owned companies of the senior coalition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) and that of the government of Janez Janša, arguing that the LMŠ is not being serious when it comes to managing state assets, and that it could be dangerous in the long run.

"When the management of Petrol stepped down last week, it was clear that the replacement took place because the management did not want to fulfil certain, actually very open wishes of the ruling party for staffing expansion."

Under the headline The Ides of October, editor-in-chief of the left-leaning weekly Grega Repovž adds that the energy company Petrol, one of the largest companies in Slovenia, was not the only one faced with such a manner of staffing lately.

Actually, reporting of this soft (or even hard) pressure are numerous companies, and some of them have already been restructured. Management and supervisory boards have already been expanded in the motorway company DARS and the railway operator Slovenske Železnice, among others.

"Prime Minister Šarec claims that he has nothing to do with that, but he is not being credible, as at the same time he complains that his party has fewer of its people in companies than other parties do."

According to Repovž, there is no doubt whatsoever that his people, cabinet officials and ministers are making order in state-owned companies.

The management of Petrol is stepping down, but neither the prime minister, Slovenian Sovereign Holding nor the finance minister have explained this. "This is done when there is only one goal: to put someone of yours in a position, regardless of the cost."

Repovž argues that this is "completely unhealthy, suspicious and smelly. Even more: there are methods present that we witnessed during Janša' rule between 2004 and 2008."

This is how important companies, including Petrol, were managed. New managements of these companies usually put them into difficult situations with their lack of knowledge. Petrol barely managed to pick itself up after Janša's venting out."

A few exceptions excluded, Šarec's government is not putting strong staff in state-owned companies either, but its people, most of them with little knowledge and experience, concludes the commentary.

Demokracija: Slovenia is in a swamp of a deep state

STA, 30 October 2019 – The right-leaning Demokracija argues in its latest commentary that it is because of the favourable attitude of the media towards the "holders of the former totalitarian authority" that Slovenia is where it is today - "in a swamp of a deep state".

One of the persons referred to is former Slovenian President Milan Kučan, the usual target of the right-leaning weekly, who is labelled as a key person who had initially "intimately" opposed Slovenia's independence.

"Later on, this person made plots to hinder Slovenia on its way to a truly free and democratic society," editor-in-chief Jože Biščak says under the headline Alligators in a Swamp and Pterodactyls in the Sky.

According to him, Kučan is still a deity for a majority of the journalist, editorial and managerial staff of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, "about whom it is literally prohibited to utter any criticism, let alone connect him with human rights violations."

It is also because of this attitude of the media that Slovenia is "in a swamp of a deep state, where the leftists elites are protected, sitting at the top of the food chain like predatory alligators and pterodactyls."

A pile of nonsense which has been uttered by these people and which should be exposed to serious criticism has gone by, and even deserved an applause, the commentator says, adding that Prime Minister Marjan Šarec is leading the pack.

Šarec recently said in parliament that "taxes finance public services" with a straight face. "If this was true, it would mean that taxes grow on trees. That the government picks them and fills the budget basket. But this is not true."

Public services are largely financed by taxpayers, the mass of completely ordinary people who, without any connections or acquaintances, work hard in the private sector, which is increasing feeling the tax wedge.

"Because of the large amount they need to earmark to the state, we can say that they live in a kind of a state-controlled slavery, where it is completely clear who is the slave and who is the master," concludes Biščak.

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 25 October 2019 - The entire management board of energy group Petrol resigned Thursday night "by mutual agreement", capping a day of intense speculation about its fate amidst what media reports describe as a politically-motivated struggle to control one of Slovenia's largest companies.

Long-serving chief executive Tomaž Berločnik stepped down alongside board members Rok Vodnik and Igor Stebrnak, over what Berločnik told the press were "differences in views on strategy" with the supervisory board.

This was today confirmed by chief supervisor Nada Drobne Popović, who said in a release "the management and the supervisors had a significantly different view on the implementation of the adopted strategy".

The company will be led in the interim period by Drobne Popović along with director of strategic cost management Denijela Ribarič Selaković. Also saysing on is the board member representing workers.

The move came after a supervisory board session that had not even been announced; when first speculation appeared yesterday morning, Petrol even went as far as issuing a press release saying the management had no knowledge of a supervisory board session taking place.

Drobne Popović later said the session had been an extension of a previous supervisory board session.

Media were abuzz with speculation about the true reasons for the overhaul at the top of Petrol.

Public broadcaster TV Slovenija thus reported the management and supervisors clashed over a bond issue necessary for the takeover of three energy firms in the Balkans.

And the business daily Finance reported "problems with a project that would significantly alter the image of Petrol" as the cause, though it also suggested this was a cover for what was in fact a politically motivated replacement.

This possibility was also raised by the Manager Association, which issued a statement prior to the resignation warning against replacing a successful board.

"By bringing down a successful management team, those who want to replace them - politicians in power - would send the indirect message that they do not care about social prosperity and the fate of Slovenia's largest company."

It said it was "strongly against a political replacement of the management board as well as political games which all too often damage the economy and society".

It also pointed to the importance of stability and predictability of the business environment and of good corporate management for companies.

The association moreover believes yesterday's decision made no sense in particular in the light of Petrol positive results.

Meanwhile, the Slovenian Directors' Association expressed surprise over the management overhaul, saying that such an extreme step was usually justified.

"A justified reason must exist; if it does not, then this is careless actions," Irena Prijović, the association's executive director, told the STA on Friday.

She could not comment on whether the move was political, but added that if indeed it was, that would be unacceptable.

Chief supervisor Drobne Popović rejected claims she had acted on behalf of political actors and said she had not consulted any politicians.

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec wrote on Twitter yesterday afternoon, before the resignation was announced, that the notion his party wanted to replace the Petrol management was "one of the biggest pieces of disinformation recently".

The government discussed the step at today's correspondence session and called on Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH), the state asset custodian, to provide detailed clarification of the circumstances of the resignation by 4 November.

Earlier today, the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) requested an emergency session of the parliamentary commission on public finances to discuss corporate management at state-owned companies and political staffing.

The party also proposes that the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption investigate possible corruptive means in resignation or appointment of state companies' management and supervisory boards.

Berločnik was named chief executive in February 2011, when Petrol was reeling from a financially disastrous attempt to take over rival Istrabenz, and his second five-year term would have ended in 2021.

He is credited with transforming a traditional fuel retailer into an all-round energy group with a strong electricity division and increasing clout in retail.

Less than a month ago, the Manager Association named him the manager of the year.

Petrol has been going strong. It saw its sales revenue rise by 15% to EUR 2.73 billion in the first six months of the year, with net profit up by 4% to EUR 40.7 million from the same period in 2018.

STA, 11 September 2019 - The energy company Petrol signed cooperation contracts with Russia's T Plus Grupa and Schneider Electric at a Slovenian-Russian business meeting held in Moscow on Tuesday as part of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec's visit to the country.

Petrol will cooperate with the two Russian companies in energy efficiency. According to Petrol CEO Tomaž Berločnik, the projects will focus on optimisation of district heating.

The project with T Plus Grupa will be carried out in Izhevsk, and the other in Yekaterinburg, where Petrol will set up specialised software and provide IT support.

"Thus we will reduce energy use and optimise operative costs," Berločnik explained. According to him, the two projects are worth "a few million euro" and potentially tens of million in the future.

The business meeting, hosted by Šarec, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar, Labour Minister Ksenija Klampfer and Russian Digital Development Minister Konstantin Noskov, featured nine other Slovenian companies that already operate on the Russian market.

In his address, Šarec highlighted the two biggest Slovenian investors in Russia, the pharma company Krka and ICT company Iskratel.

According to Krka CEO Jože Colarič, Krka's sales in Russia will reach almost EUR 300 million this year, which is about 40% of Slovenia's total exports to the country.

Also represented at the meeting were the telecoms equipment maker Comita, air dome maker Duol, sports equipment manufacturer Elan Inventa, gas wholesaler Geoplin, industrial group Kolektor, engineering company Riko and steel group SIJ.

Šarec said that despite the EU's sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis Slovenia as en export-oriented economy was very much interested in the strengthening of economic cooperation with Russia.

He said there were many opportunities to enhance ties in high-tech and called for a joint foray into third markets.

Počivalšek echoed this call and pointed to potential for cooperation in energy, pharmaceuticals, automation and tourism, especially spas.

The economy minister noted that in 2018, bilateral trade in goods reached EUR 1.16 billion, of which EUR 790 million was Slovenia's exports and EUR 370 million imports.

In the first six months of this year, Slovenia's exports to Russia almost reached EUR 750 million. The exports are slowly approaching the 2013 level and the one billion euro milestone, Počivalšek assessed.

Currently, 38 Slovenian companies are present in Russia with total direct investments of EUR 357 million, which is 5% of Slovenia's total external investment, the minister said.

In turn, Russian companies mostly invest in the financial, metal and spa industries in Slovenia. Russian indirect investments in Slovenia top EUR 538 million.

Počivalšek called on Russian companies to increase their investment in Slovenia and take part in the final phase of privatisation of some 110 companies.

"We are striving to create a competitive environment for domestic and foreign investors and want to be green, creative and smart," the minister said.

Talking to the STA on the sidelines of the event, he rejected criticism that the strengthening of relations with Russia could have a negative impact on Slovenia's relations with its other alleys.

"Slovenia is an export-oriented economy. Out of last year's GDP, which reached EUR 46 billion, exports totalled 39 billion, which is 85%. And 80% of the exports was generated in EU markets. We're not neglecting any markets. And the Russian market is important to us," he stressed.

Slovenia's top market is the EU, the Western Balkans comes second, and China has already overtaken Russia, which is thus our fourth most important market, he added.

Cerar and Noskov, who head the intergovernmental economy commission, also addressed the participants of the business forum. Cerar stressed the importance of the "friendly atmosphere" between Slovenian and Russia, and Noskov assessed that the future of the bilateral economic relations was bright.